I — — — EUROPEAN AND GENERAL NEWS. Q&amp;^ibjcbtfvc {-loin, £lbefcii&amp;e. 2apc»s. Aii Egyptian force rf 8,000 men is proceeding via Wady-Halfa, against the Mahdi at Dongola. In order to divert the attention of the people from the recent disasters in Abyssinia, the King of Italy will grant an extensive amnesty to political prisoners. The trial of the Committee of the Transvaal Reform Association is still proceeding at Pretoria. Trouble is predicted in the future unless the charter of the British S. African Com pany be suspended. A-lnairal Bridge, interviewed at Auckland, states that the Imperial Navy is now so efficient that it is im possible for any possible combination of enemies to dismember the Empire by the forcible occupation of any part of it. The Negus of Abyssinia has 648 prisoners as hostages. He stipulates that the independence of the province of Tigre shall be recognised by Italy. The Negus Menelik, in the presence of the Italian Envoy, reviewed 100,000 well-arm...

TO KEEP BUTTER COOL. To keep butter firm in hot weather dissolve a teaspoonful of powdered borax in a cupful of boiling wa ter, ;md place a cloth in the solution. Allow' it to remain about a quarter of an hour, then -place the cloth over the' butter. This will not only keep the butter firm but will prevent it from' turning rancid, Boiax is *ftot in-1 jurious. / :

C0R R E SPON D £ N C E . THE HOTEL QUESTION. A REPLY. Sir.—With regard to the letter of "Temperance" in your issue of the 14th instant, let me begin with the heading, "An ounce of prevention, etc." By prevention I take it he means the preventing of a thing that has not already taken place. As sly grog shops have taken place, and also are the means of much inebriation, I fail to see where his prevention can come in, unless he imputes to others who are at present leading sober lives, a desire of becoming drunkards if they get the chance to do so. And in the concluding paragraph of his letter he distinctly misputes this desire to the "young men of Renmark," who he implies will be and are the "slaves of sotfcishness and sin." Bather hard words on the "young men of Ken mark," who only wish to see a decent and respectable hotel established where supervision could be exercised on not only the amount of drink sold, but also on the quality of the same. The question is, are tho "young men of ...

SMYRNA FIGS. Mr. Thos, B. Rohson/of Ellythrop, Hectorville, writes as follows to this l month's Garden ami field:— I | It may interest yon to know that I have succeeded in fertilising the Smyr na fig with pollen from the Capri, and took a ripe Smyrna fig to town to-day, leaving with Messrs. Hackett, after showing it to Mr. Iloltze and Mr. Molineux. When the first crop of 1 Capri figs were matured, I found they contained a quantity of pollen. The i j fi^st crop of Smyrna had all dropped off, so I cut a small hole in some of I the largest of the second crop Smyrna figs (then quite small), and inserted some pollen, with th« result that one has ripened, and I think another will also mature. I have thus proved that with cross fertilization the Smyrna fig will bear fruit, and without it the fruit all drops off. The fig is large and j flattened and of a pale green color, | and looks as though it would dry welL Of course, my specimen is disfigured by the hole I cut in it af- the natural ori...

0 R 'I 8 1 i? fl L ST0RY. THE A NT A RCTICANS. BY HARRY PRINCE. Sbilcii Cij S. 3- dsfivueff. [all rights reserved-] CHAPTER III. Daniel's Story. "The charge against the Chief Priest was proved. ISow under our laws, as they were at that time, only two punishments were possible for any crime—death or loss of family, friends and name. A man banished in our community leads a terrible life, for no One will believe or trust him. The case went against the priest and he was stripped of all clothing and sent forth nameless. "The old man, not seeming at first to comprehend the fact of his altered con dition, turned away from the bar with a defiant smile, and moved with dig nity to where stood many of his friends. Perhaps he thought to salute them, and I fancy now that I see the smile ; swiftly fade from the lips, and the firm, proud face blanch to the hue and hag gardness of death as they—his friends in whom he trusted—shrank from him. A moment he reeled, as though hit very hard, then slowly ...

LYRUP. [From ouk Cobkespondent.] Since my last letter things have been quiet here. We have been sub ject to considerable inconvenience through irregularity of the steamers. However now thu river is rising we shall be able to get our produ'ce away. We have been busy drying our crop of raisins, and getting our onion crop ready to send away. | Electoral matters are now engaging ; our attention, and the various candi dates have been considered. It has been resolved to give all the candi dates a cordial invitation to visit the settlement and express their views to the electors. But the meeting pledged itself to support Mr. Baker.

LOCAL NEWS. Boots ! Bcots!! Bct.ts !!! To ar rive—1GG0 pairs at prices from Gd. to 19/6 per pair for Clark &amp; Co.—Advt. Another cricket anient beiwun teams of Beninark mani&amp;lt; d and single men was played on the Recreation Keserve last Saturday. The beucdicts, who first took their innings, ma&amp;lt;e 76, B, Gregory, making 84 and ,3i. J. Payne 14. A.D. Thomson perf&amp;lt; l ined the bowling feat of tsiliii g un wickets for 30 runs. The bachelors put up 80 runs, W. Bucban. contributing 19, E. Blades 16, and 0. Gregory 10. Four wichets fell to the bowling of Wade, three to that of Malcolm, two to Luiui and one to Blades. An unfortunate occurrence took place on Block C on Ivlo»day at mid day, Mr. T, B. Smith, who 1ms re cently purchased a plantation on Tar coola Street, was burning weeds on his land. While going for s&amp;lt; me grapes on another portion of the blr.cK, a whirlwind caught the burning rub bish and carried a porti&amp;lt; n of it to his ca...

f bc |jionm'. SAT QII DAY, MARCH 28, 1896. THE SETTLEES AND THE MORTGAGEES. Last Saturday the mortgagors of Mil dura held a . meeting at which the following resolutions, according to the Mildura papers, were to have been submitted:— 1. That in the opinion of this meeting of Mildura settlers, it is im peratively necessary to re-consider and re-adjust on a more equitable basis the mortgages at present existing on Mil dura lands. 2. Th at five persons be appointed « committee to correspond with the mortgagees, and to suggest to them that fresh mortgages should be issued to all landholders who desire them, at suitable dates—say five years and up wards (according to circumstances), bearing interest at, say, 5 per cent, simple interest, per annum, payable half-yearly, the amounts of such mortgages to be agreed on individu ally ; a;id to take kucIi other steps as tin; committee may deem necessary. 3. Tbafc a. document to the fol lowing effect be signed by the mort gagers as a credential of...

FROM THE WOMAN'S LAND REFOUM LIfAGUE. The diy is nsar at hand when, for the first time, w«-. shall be called upon U> ex cise the right of taking an equal sliuie in the election of Members of our new Parliament. We regard this new depar ture not less as a right than as a duty—a sacred trust which calls for special inteili gence and earnestness. In the past, very little thought was given l»v wiiiiau to matters of public iin) n'tauj, l> u n->w that the vote lias bsen cit-ifi'i-rud and we have a direct influence on n.itio i il life, we we shall we greatly to blain i if wo neglect our duties as citizens, and do not euduavor to return representatives who advocate just and sound principles. In this country blessed so bountifully by nature with all the requirrnents for a large population; there are hundreds living on the verge of poverty, many unemployed, others on half-time, and the wages of those in worlc continually reduced in consequence of the unnatural competition that prevai...

EUROPEAN ANt) GENERAL NEWS. flGziitijob front lT;e flbefai&amp;iJ. papers. The tottii of Kassala, on the bor ders of Abyssinia and the Soudan, held by the Italians, is besieged by Osman Digna, with an army of 18,000 Der vishes. The commander of the town recently intimated that with the present supply of provisions and ammunition, he could hold out till July. In fear of the fall of Kassala and its resulting in fluence on the Egyptian frontier, an expeditionary force is being despatched t) the Soudan by the British, as ad ministrators of the Egyptian Govern ment. A vote of censure was moved in the Housf- of Commons by the Eight Hon. J. E. Morley on Friday against the Government for their method of con ducting the expedition against the Khalifa of the Soudan. The Khalifa has proclaimed a holy war in the Soudan, but several Arab tribes have volunteered to fight for the British. The Great Powers are not unani mous in consenting to the application of the Caisse &amp;lt;le Detta, (...

KENMARK PLANTATIONS. MR. THOMAS LEWIS'. A plantation of considerable merit, is the ten^-acre block cf Mr. Thomas Lewis at the coiner of iienuuirk Avenge and Twenty-Sixth Street. Tho soil is mostly .of a good red loam,' .rather more friable in nature than most of the land in that vicnity. It has hist sufficient slope to be readi!y irrigated and the situation is an ex cellent one. Seven aens cf ihes were planted four years ago, t;T them being Gordo Blanco vine.-. L year from these he picked 1.G00 trays of grapes and dried a iiua sample of raisins. Thisyear he has jiist finished picking the crop, thu yicl.i. l;uin slightly more than last ys nr. lie not dipped his grapes, Suit liu: &amp;lt;ju:i!iiy of the raisins, which have lh en driwi so far, is very good. Two acres of vines are of mixed variety, including some Zante Currants, which ljure a. fair crop this year. These however have been interplante.d with apricot tnjes, put in last planting season. The t'emaining thtve acres consis...

LYRUP. [From our Correspondent.] Since iny last letter to , you was written the weather has been very variable, hot, cold and a little rain, the latter doing much good. A change has taken place in the jtirsond of, our officers, Messrs. Tliayne, Egany Guy and Half having r&amp;tired iioiu the Trusteeship, and Messrs. F. J. Waiuwrjght', 3F. Lay ton, Nolan and Wright having been elected to fill their places.1 . ;• ' Our grapes are fill. gathered, but they are not dried yet." Our onions have yielded splendidly, &amp;lt;15: tons hav ing' Wen sent away and there are more to follow. . .. : ^rr. George Ash, a candidate for the electorate, visited us on Tues day and' gave us liis views 'in a speech lasting two hours and a halif. He was attentively listened to throughout and he answered a number of questions. A vote of. than lis was accorded to him for his visit. Messrs. T. H. Smeaton and John Barker, also candidates, came down on Thursday and gave their views to a large meeting. But ...